a dog in midfield!
in association with Swansea jack publishing
Our four legged furry mascot Vetch the Dog is back with another column for the electronic pages of ATFV – and in this issue he’s decided to get his teeth into the changes in playing personnel over the summer…all explained with the most excruciating canine puns of course 🐶
Is it me or did the summer pass really quickly this year? One minute I was lazing around on the sofa licking my own footballs, and the next the Editor was barking orders at me to get my column written!
It truly is a dog’s life on times.
Oh well, best get to it and give my opinion on some of the new arrivals at the Swansea.Com Kennels.
Suppose I should start at the top where there’s been a change of Big Dawg; (Jack) Russell Martin eventually slipped his lead after scratching the door to get out for weeks, and he’s now setting new records for passes made as Southampton manager.
If Martin was a dog food then he’d be Cesar – all luxurious chunks but at the end of the day it ain’t Winalot! Just ask Southampton fans!
With Martin now a passing memory – see what I did there? – in his place comes Michael Duff, a more pragmatic, well yes, DOGGED, manager brought in to bring a winning edge to the pretty football.
One hopes Duff can find a winning formula whilst retaining a large element of the purist passing of his predecessor…it hasn’t started well and losing to those flea infested scabby dogs in the South Wales Derby has led to a large amount of fans trying to HOUND Duff out before October!
The signs have not been good so far despite Duff being given a pack of new players to help him get it right. I mean look at just some of the new arrivals at the kennels for Duff throw balls to in training:-
Jerry Yates – a player who will run and run and run, like a Labrador on adrenaline and Angel Dust supplements
Josh Ginelly – a new whippet on the wing, bringing the sort of speed and single-mindedness that’s been missing since Daniel James’ departure
Carl Rushworth – a top prospect borrowed from Brighton, this England U-21 ‘keeper is like a cat in goal. And that’s the last time you’ll ever see a cat mentioned in this column!
Josh Key – an absolute Terrier that can aggressively scamper forward from either flank
Mykola Kuharevich – the giant Ukrainian forward is built like a Newfoundland but covers the ground like a racehorse
Charlie Patino – best comparison for the young Arsenal loanee would be a German Shepherd pup…soft and fluffy to look at, but savage in attack
And a host of other new arrivals, gives Big Dawg Duff the kind of strength in depth that Martin could only dream of. And no doubt he did dream of it all the way through last January only to end up with a weaker squad at the end of it!
Of course he’s lost the services of pedigree talent Piroe and that’s going to make the challenge twice as difficult, but he’ll be hoping Head of Kennels Paul Watson can collar a permanent replacement in January rather than relying on Deadline Day rebounder Jamal Lowe.
It’s set to be another unpredictable season but the influx of new talent certainly adds a bit of freshness to proceedings. I’ll be keeping an eye on proceedings via a dodgy stream beamed straight into me kennel and I’ll see you in the next issue for my thoughts – providing someone hasn’t tossed a tennis ball and distracted me enough to forget them entirely.
In the meantime, I’ll share a squad pic from our friend Japan Jack…I wonder if the Editor would send me out to Japan to interview these guys?
